One of the features of the
stile nuovo which emerged in the early
17th century in Italy was the extended role of single voices or instruments.
Composers started to write music for a solo voice or instrument, often of a
quite virtuosic character. However, the
stile antico which was
dominant in the previous centuries was still frequently applied, especially
in sacred music. One of the advocates of that style in the late 17th and
early 18th centuries was Johann Joseph Fux (c.1660-1741). He exerted a
strong influence through his treatise
Gradus ad Parnassum as well
as directly through his teaching. The present disc is devoted to music by
three composers from Bohemia all of whom were his pupils.
The programme begins with a setting of the
Stabat mater by
František Ignác Antonín Tůma. He was born in Kostelec where his father
worked as organist and was also his first teacher. He probably studied in
Prague with Cernohorsky and then went to Vienna. By 1731 he was in the
service of Count Franz Ferdinand Kinsky, the High Chancellor of Bohemia, who
allowed him to study counterpoint with Fux. When Kinsky died in 1741 Tůma
was appointed
Kapellmeister to the widow of Emperor Charles VI.
According to Count Kinsky Tůma was a follower of Fux's principles,
meaning that his sacred music is written in the
stile antico and
shows reminiscences of Palestrina. The
Stabat mater is a
particularly good example. It is scored for four voices and basso continuo,
and has some similarity with Domenico Scarlatti's setting of the same
text for ten voices and b.c. The influence of Palestrina is evident, but -
as so often with sacred music of that time - it also includes traces of the
concertante style and even elements which point in the direction of the
classical style of the late 18th century. There are many moments when the
text is illustrated, for instance on words like "tormentis" and
"flagellatis subditum". It is a wonderful and very expressive
setting of this famous text and receives a performance of great beauty and
incisiveness. The voices blend perfectly and every nuance in the text is
clearly exposed.
The second main composer on the programme is much better known. Jan Dismas
Zelenka is best known for his masses. Most of these are available in several
recordings which bear witness to the popularity of his music. Zelenka was
quite adventurous: much of his oeuvre is unconventional, for instance in the
use of harmony. In his later works he included elements of the modern galant
idiom as he came under increasing criticism for his conservative style.
Counterpoint plays an important part in his compositions, and it comes as no
surprise that Bach was among his admirers. The mass sections recorded here
are rather curious as both are partly based on music by Palestrina, the
great model of the
stile antico which figured prominently in
Fux's teachings. In the
Agnus Dei from the
Sanctus et
Agnus Dei in d minor Zelenka makes use of two sections from
Palestrina's
Missa sine nomine. The court chapel in Dresden,
where Zelenka worked most of his life, owned a copy of Palestrina's
Missa Nigra sum but only the
Kyrie,
Gloria and
Credo. Zelenka composed the missing parts himself. Whereas most of
the music is his own, albeit in Palestrina style, the
Agnus Dei II
is a parody of the
Kyrie II of Palestrina's mass. These
pieces are also interesting as they allow a comparison between Palestrina
and 'pseudo-Palestrina'. I wonder whether a listener who
doesn't know that parts of this work are from Zelenka's pen
would hear any difference.
The three settings of the text
Sub tuum praesidium are from a set
of ten. They are quite different: the setting in
d minor is
dominated by homophony, but ends with a fugue. The second in
c
minor is more polyphonic, and begins and ends with a fugue. In this
setting Zelenka makes frequent use of general pauses. These pieces were
written for the Roman-Catholic liturgy and bear witness to the influence of
Marie Josepha of Austria, daughter of the Habsburg emperor Joseph I, who
married August III, future Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.
The third composer in the programme is hardly known at all. Johann Georg
Orschler was born in Breslau in Silesia - today Wrocław in Poland. He was in
Prague in the late 1720s, having studied with Johann Joseph Fux in Vienna.
This sonata is one of two which are preserved in the archive of the court
orchestra in Dresden. This is an indication that he was held in high
esteem.
This is a most intriguing disc. It was a great idea to focus on one
specific aspect in the oeuvre of three composers, two of which are little
known or hardly known at all. Certainly the Tuma catalogue which is of
considerable size deserves to be thoroughly explored. It would be great if
Václav Luks would take care of that because he delivers exquisite
performances here with his fine ensemble of singers and players. This is
definitely one of the best discs I have heard lately, and the nomination as
Recording of the Month is fully deserved.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
